Appealing to Union, Hillary Clinton Calls Teachers ‘Scapegoats’

[Omaha Steve]

Hillary Rodham Clinton at an event in Hampton, N.H., on May 22.Credit Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The New York Times


http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/06/04/appealing-to-union-hillary-clinton-calls-teachers-scapegoats/

By Maggie Haberman

Hillary Rodham Clinton made an appeal for an endorsement from the American Federation of Teachers this week, suggesting in a private meeting with union officials that critics have turned teachers into “scapegoats for all of society’s problems.”

“From what I’ve seen, all of the evidence, and my own personal experience, says that the most important and impactful thing we can do for our public schools is to recruit, support and retain the highest-quality educators,” Mrs. Clinton said before a question-and-answer session with teachers, according to the union, which released her remarks.

“It is just dead wrong to make teachers the scapegoats for all of society’s problems,” she said. “Where I come from, teachers are the solution.” Mrs. Clinton’s remarks were first reported by BuzzFeed.

Mrs. Clinton, as well as two other Democratic presidential hopefuls, former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, appeared at the union’s executive council meeting this week. But even allies of Mr. O’Malley and Mr. Sanders acknowledge that Mrs. Clinton is likely to earn the federation’s backing.

FULL story at link.

[Wilms]

1. Yay, Bernie! Er, I mean, Hillary! n/t

[Orsino]

2. That's exactly right, and rather than suggesting it in private meetings....

...we should be shouting it in the streets.

[djean111]

3. So, has Hillary denounced the charter schools, union-busting, and the testing?

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Well, not *exactly*. This is worth revisiting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/us/politics/hillary-clinton-caught-between-dueling-forces-on-education-teachers-and-wealthy-donors.html?_r=1

[djean111]

5. I wonder how she will dance around this -

Already, she is being pulled in opposite directions on education. The pressure is from not only the teachers who supported her once and are widely expected to back her again, but also from a group of wealthy and influential Democratic financiers who staunchly support many of the same policies — charter schools and changes to teacher tenure and testing — that the teachers’ unions have resisted throughout President Obama’s two terms in office.

One thing to praise the teachers. That's easy. But quite another thing to defy the donors. Watch out for slippery homilies.

[Starry Messenger]

6. K&R

[dpatbrown]

7. She's right

Retiring this month after teaching for 26 years, Clinton nailed it. In all my years, motivation has always been the most critical part of teaching. But when more and more kids come to school not caring, a lack of motivation, aren't the parents guilty of not preparing their children? I don't care what a teacher tries. It has become much more difficult to reach these kids. Extremely unfair to blame teachers, who are busting their butts in a very stressful situation.